With track gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics his main goal for the season, Wiggins insists he will be in Dubai to help his young teammates develop their racing skills and nurturing them as riders.

“Unlike everyone else, I’m not hoping to achieve anything this week,” he said. “The Dubai Tour is one of the four road races I’ll be doing this year. Just being here with my team pleases me, it’s nice to be racing with those young guys.

“If I can be next to them in sprint finishes, if I can contribute to their experience in a learning curve along with Team Sky and the other big teams, it’ll be great. Some of them are just 19 – Team Wiggins is moving along.

“There are a lot of British expatriates in Dubai who look forward to seeing us. Cycling changes all the time, it’s very different from ten years ago, now we are here in the UAE for racing. My goal is definitely more of nurturing for this week!”

He is joined in Dubai by fellow Brit and former Team Sky colleague Mark Cavendish, who is looking to win the race for the second year running, as well as high profile riders like Marcel Kittel, Fabian Cancellara and Philippe Gilbert.

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